LAFAYETTE, Ind. —- Seven Republican candidates for Indiana's 4th District Congressional seat tried to answer one question: Who can best support President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's agenda?

"It's going to take people who's going to truly support the America First agenda," said former State Rep. Steve Braun.

Saturday's debate at Faith Church's east side community center comes six weeks before the May 8 primary to replace Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Brownsburg), who is running for Democrat Joe Donnelly's Senate seat.

The 4th District covers all of Tippecanoe County and much of the surrounding counties, and many candidates stressed their connections to the county, Greater Lafayette and Purdue University.

Kevin J. Grant held up "Trump: The Art of the Deal" book, signed by Trump. Braun touted working for then-Gov. Pence as the commissioner of Indiana's Department of Workforce Development.

"I am very satisfied that Trump and Pence have made significant shift in turning the ship of ours," said State Rep. Jim Baird.

Diego Morales, on more than three occasions, mentioned his work as a "senior advisor" to then-Gov. Pence, although Morales's campaign had acknowledged to the Associated Press that Morales' work didn't quite rise to the level of others who had worked for Pence.

"I am the only candidate who can call the White House and get an answer," Morales said.

Other candidates refuted Morales' remark, saying they have also built close relationships with Pence and the White House.

"Every call in the White House gets an answer," quipped one of Baird's staff after the debate.

The candidates also answered variety of questions on policies, from their views on tariffs to their views on a pathway to citizenship for those who came to the United States illegally as children.

Rokita has said the wall has to come first before any discussion on the pathway. The candidates running for Rokita's seat said they agreed that the border needs to be secured, but they had different opinions on the pathway to citizenship.

"It would be very Un-American to send some of those young folks to countries they've never been in," Baird said.

"They need to get back to the end of the line," Morales said. "We are in this mess because (former President Barack) Obama got us into this mess."

With the backdrop of hundreds of thousands marching in Washington and around the country to call for gun control, the candidates expressed support for the Second Amendment and said more focus has to be on mental health and improving background checks.

Grant said he bought a rifle for his young son when he went on a tour of duty, but said he supports banning bump stocks and raising the age of purchase for guns to 21, with exceptions for military and other relevant personnel.

"Those affected by those tragedies are very tired of hearing mere condolences," said Jared Thomas.

But Thomas argued banning assault rifles doesn't immediately reduce gun violence, and added that more education has to be done to help people identify certain warning signs of mass shooting.